Choice 1: Romans 1. The Gospel of Christ is the Power of God unto Salvation

1.    Review Romans 1:3–4; Luke 1:31–32; 3:23–31. Explain in writing how Jesus Christ is both the son of David and the Son of God. If the Lord is both heir to the king (David) and to God, then in what ways can the Lord rightfully reign? Being the son of David, He was mortal; being the Son of God, He was immortal. Read John 10:17–18 and explain why it was essential for the Savior of the world to be both mortal and immortal.
          Jesus whose mortal father is Joseph who is a descendant of king David's lineage so in respect to Jesus' mortal family He is a son of David. He is also physically begotten of the Father and is then able to be called the Son of God. Through the lineage of Joseph, Christ's mortal father, He has the lineage of a king among men. Through Him also being the true Son of God He has the divinely appointed role as King of Kings. 
          It is the combination of Christ's mortality and immortality that He was able to perform the atonement. It is only though Him being mortal that he was able to give up His life for us but it is through His immortality that He was able to take it up again.    

2.    Review Romans 1:15–20 and answer the following questions in writing:

o       How did Paul feel about the gospel?
Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. He is not afraid to proclaim his love for Christ or the Gospel.

o       In what ways can you show you are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
For me the best way to show that I am not ashamed is to share my faith. Being the only member in my family I must stand for what I believe no matter what others may think or say. I am always sharing scriptures, quotes from apostles, experiences from church or a feeling I had in the temple. I am not scared to share my testimony on facebook or on other social media platforms to ensure that I am sharing my beliefs with anyone who is willing to read or listen. 

3.    Review Romans 1:21–32. Then respond to the following items:

Make a list of the people’s sins by using the verses and the footnotes.  Place a check mark next to the sins on your list that are still a problem today.

• Ingratitude    ✓
• Corrupt         ✓
• Unclean
• Lust               ✓
• Wickedness   ✓
• Malice
• Deceit            ✓
• Pride              ✓ 
• Disobedience ✓      

What reasons were given for why people commit these sins? What does it mean in verse 25 when Paul said that people “worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator”?
          Most of the reasons given is that they turned away from God. They fell to the natural man, or decided to follow the desires of their minds and bodies rather than following the Word of God. I think the same is true for the people of today. We see so much of society is following the wants and desires of their own bodies and minds rather than heeding God. Our society is so focused on the individual where the Gospel of Christ emphasizes the need for us to turn our focus outside of ourselves. A lot of our society feel like they are entitled to act how ever they want without consequence. It is this feeling of entitlement that really drives people to "worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator". 

Choice 4: 2 Corinthians 3–7; 12. Use the Spirit to Come to the Lord

1. Review 2 Corinthians 3:6. Complete this sentence: “The spirit giveth _____________.”
Knowing what the Spirit gives us, write a description of where death comes from (see Romans 6:23). What then is needed to bring the Spirit into our lives?

In 2 Corinthians 3:6 the verse ends with "the spirit giveth life." In Romans 6:23 we learn that death comes from sin. From these verses we learn that we must repent of sin and be worthy to receive the promptings of the Spirit. For those of us who are members of the Church, this means we must be worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in which we received the gift of when we were Confirmed. 

2.    Write a sentence or two on how applying what is taught in each of the following references brings us closer to God and gives us more freedom from Satan:

2 Corinthians:

• 4:6–10 

In verse 6 it says,"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." We learn that we are given the Light of Christ and we must let it shine. In verses eight and nine it says, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;" As long as we are faithful to the light in which we are given we will be up held by the Lord. 

• 4:14–18

These verses tell me that our trials are but a small moment. We will go through these trials in our lives but we do not look for the trials and tribulations that we can see but, rather, we look forward to the time when we are resurrected like Christ.

• 5:7–10 

There were two things I really pulled from these verses. First, we must walk by faith. We must be willing to take that leap, or even step, of faith. Second, we will all be judged by Christ for the things we have done. We cannot hide anything from our Savior and we will be judged according to our deeds in our mortal life.

• 5:17–21 

We are saved by Christ's atonement. Christ, who was sinless, took upon Himself the sins of all to fulfill the Father's plan. It is through the atonement of Christ in our lives, a sincere use of this gift, that will help us to overcome any sin we commit.

• 6:14–17 

We must not fall to the natural man. Even though we are part of a world and society where morals and values are far and few in between, we must be steadfast in upholding our standards. When we stand for Christ, He stands for us.

• 7:1, 9–10 

True repentance will set us free. When we have the "godly sorrow" for our sins and are brought to repentance we are truly remorseful. This is not a type of sorrow that can be brought on by the world, that would be guilt, but rather this is the sorrow for going against God which leads to true repentance.

• 12:9–10

It is in our weaknesses that we are able to see the Grace of God. When we are aware of our weaknesses we are humbled to ask for help from the Lord and He is then able to lift us in our weaknesses.

1 Corinthians 4:2, 9–17; 8:9–13. The Impact of Example

This is a continuation of post for a religion class I am taking at Brigham Young University- Idaho. I invite anyone who reads this that is not a member of the LDS church to please leave comments or questions :) 

Write what is required of the servants of the Lord according to 1 Corinthians 4:2. 

According to this verse the thing that is required of the Lords servants is that the servant is to be faithful. Though this may seem to be an obvious responsibility I think it can often times be hard to achieve. 

Read 1 Corinthians 4:9–17 and name the group specifically selected to be examples. How does being a good example apply to more than this group? 

The specific group are the apostles. We are always being watched by those we are around on a daily basis, whether that be family, friends, classmates or coworkers and then there are those who we may only encounter for a moment as we walk down the street but they are all constantly critiquing our actions. Especially for those of us who are members of the Church, we are under constant scrutiny which is why we, every member, must live the gospel to the best of our ability everyday. We are not perfect so we will make mistakes and slip constantly, but we must always show our love for Christ in all that we do regardless of what may be going on in our lives.

Read Alma 39:11–12 and explain why it is not enough just to know what is right. 

This comes back to the scripture in Luke 12:48 for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required. This is also reiterated in Doctrine and Covenants 82:3 which reads "For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation." We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that we have the fullness of the Gospel of Christ, or at least as far as it has been revealed in this dispensation, so we have the responsibility of sharing this knowledge and information with those around us and with whom we associate with. 
We must live and act upon the knowledge we have so that we may lead others to that same knowledge. However, as it explains in the verses of Alma (which is found in the Book of Mormon), if we were to act against what is taught then we risk the leading of others away from that knowledge or from finding it. 

Read 3 Nephi 8:1 and describe what additional power comes to those who live what they know.
This verse reads, "And now it came to pass that according to our record, and we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity--" 
I believe that this verse is telling us that if we live righteously and uphold the teaching of Christ and follow His gospel to the best of our ability we will be able to perform miracles in His name. In our day, we as members of The Church believe that miracles of healing can and are performed, but I don't think for most of us those are the kind of miracles we will see. I think most of us will have more subtle miracles like being able to find peace during times of trial or sharing in the joy of seeing a friend or family member embrace the gospel. There is nothing more that we could really want in this life than to be the instrument the Lord uses to perform such miracles.

Choice 1 Acts 19–20. Proper Authority and Ministering to the People

The five Priesthood ordinances that Paul performed were:

• Baptism
• Conferring the Gift of the Holy Ghost
• Ministering to the sick
• Administering the Sacrament
• Casting out evil spirits

1.    What did Paul do for the Corinthian saints because it hadn’t been done right the

first time?

We read in Acts 19 that Paul asks the people if they had received the Holy Ghost but then comes to learn that they were baptized incorrectly. Paul then baptized them again and also giving them the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

2.    How does this help answer the question many nonmembers have about the need of being baptized when they have already been baptized?

This scripture shows that there is a proper way and authority which is needed for the baptism to be valid. Though other churches may perform baptisms they lack the priesthood authority for the ordinance to be counted in the sight of the Lord.

3.    In what way did Paul bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost?

Paul used the laying on of hands to give the gift of the Holy Ghost. Just as Christ did to each of His apostles, Paul performed the ordinance the same way.

4.    On what day of the week did the saints meet to break bread? What evidence is there in John 20:1, 19 for why the Sabbath day was changed?

It was the first day of the week or the Sabbath. In John 20: 1, 19 we understand this day to be the day in which Christ was resurrected.